Ukraine drone strikes kill three in Russias Belgorod region as attacks on civilian sites rise
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9 days · 10 summary articles
Every day, the Ukraine Battlefield update newsletter offers a clear look at how the war is unfolding on the ground. Subscribe for free here to get the full text delivered to your inbox. The number of attacks on civilian infrastructure is rising. Former Ukrainian minister Dmytro Kuleba says a total economic war is beginning. Russians have destroyed all petrol stations on the road between Kharkiv and Poltava. The number of civilians killed in July has reached its highest level since April 2022. Fierce fighting is under way for Kostiantynivka; reports that it has fallen are false.
In an overnight assault, Russian forces launched 131 drones across Ukraine, the Air Force said. It added that Ukrainian air defenses downed 107 drones over the country.
Ukrainian drone attacks across the southwestern Belgorod region killed three people and injured several others, regional authorities said Tuesday. One man died in an attack on a commercial site in the village of Novosadovyi near the city of Belgorod. A second victim was hospitalized for their injuries. A man’s body was found at the location of another strike on a business in the village of Belyanka across the border from Ukraine, where nine people were injured in an earlier attack. Belyanka is home to a poultry and egg production company of the same name that operates under the Leto Group. In the village of Romashovka, further south and closer to eastern Ukraine’s occupied Luhansk region, a man died in a drone attack on a vehicle. Earlier on Tuesday morning, 19 passengers of an intercity bus were injured in the town of Shebekino across the border from Ukraine.
Acting Belgorod region Governor Alexander Shuvayev said over the weekend that the past two months accounted for over half of the 20,800 Ukrainian drone attacks intercepted by Russian air defenses so far in 2026. He identified residential buildings, civilian infrastructure facilities, commercial sites and public spaces as the targets of “chaotic” attacks. “There’s no military logic in these strikes at all. The enemy’s goal is to sow panic, create tension and hinder the work of emergency and public utilities services,” Shuvayev wrote on Telegram.
According to Ukrinform, the USF press service announced the upcoming operations on Telegram. "The Unmanned Systems Forces are preparing new strikes on enemy military targets," the statement said, alongside footage showing operators from the 7th Battalion of the 414th "Birds of Magyar" Brigade preparing middle-strike-class unmanned aerial systems for combat missions.
Following a series of systematic drone strikes on Russian oil refineries and tankers in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, Ukraine has expanded its campaign to target Russia's logistics infrastructure. Since last week, warehouses belonging to Russia's largest online marketplace, Wildberries, have come under what Ukraine describes as "long-range sanctions".
The EU is preparing a record package of sanctions against companies supporting the Russian war in Ukraine. The package is expected to target over 1,600 companies worldwide.
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These include money for purchasing American Patriot missiles; permitting Ukraine to manufacture its own Patriots; supporting Ukraines indigenous Freya anti-missile project; and providing Franco/Italian SAMP-T air defence systems. All are important. But they fall woefully short of addressing the current crisis, because they will either take too long to arrive or provide token numbers of interceptors. Better options exist. But a lack of political will – and continued fear of provoking Russia – remain serious issues for Ukraines European allies.Russias turn to bombardmentRussia began targeting Ukraines civilian infrastructure with missiles and drones almost as soon as their effort to conquer the country failed in 2022. Initially, capabilities fell short of ambitions. Russia depended on comparatively small numbers of cruise and ballistic missiles for its strikes. And Western sanctions disrupted Russian missile production.But Moscow has since found ways to circumvent sanctions and import vital components, while establishing new missile production lines and obtaining Shahed drones from Iran. (Russia now produces its own upgraded model of the drone). Ukraine has developed ingenious solutions for shooting down Russias attack drones. Today it intercepts 90 per cent of them, and approximately 89 per cent of incoming cruise missiles.But the situation is dire when it comes to intercepting Russias Iskander and Kinzhal ballistic missiles. Only Patriots have achieved confirmed kills. Meanwhile, Russian production now outstrips Americas: Russia is producing an estimated 1,440 ballistic missiles per year compared to the US manufacturing 650 Patriots. To make matters worse, the US and its allies in the Middle East expended 1,700 Patriots – roughly three years of production – during the first five-weeks of conflict with Iran. 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